1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of visual displays and to systems and methods of assembling smaller display elements to create larger composite displays.
2. Description of the Related Art
Visual displays have been produced in a wide variety of configurations and sizes and are utilized in a wide variety of applications for presentation of visual images. Displays can be utilized to portray still and/or moving visual images as black and white or color, depending on the particular implementation of visual display. Displays can be adapted to display informational images, entertainment images, and/or a combination of both.
Displays can employ such technologies as cathode ray tubes (CRTs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light emitting diodes (LEDs), plasma displays, and others. In general, smaller size displays such as might be used for personal consumer electronic equipment typically employ a single display panel and range in size from the order of a few centimeters as might be used with a wrist watch or small cellular telephone handset to one to two meters, such as may be provided with a large screen television display.
There is frequently a need, however, for significantly larger displays, for example, at sporting arenas, concert or theater venues, race tracks, etc. Such large displays can be used to provide, for example, scoring, stats, time, or other information related to the sporting event and/or enlarged up-close images of the performers or event to improve the experience for the attendees. Such displays may also be used for advertising. One type of large display is known under the registered trademark of Sony Corporation as a “Jumbotron.” The Jumbotron is formed as an array of display elements with each display element being composed of three or six smaller CRTs, each forming one color of a composite pixel. Jumbotron-type displays have been developed and installed ranging in size from approximately 9 meters diagonally to 47 meters diagonally. Similar large displays are also offered by companies such as Daktronics and Barco N.V. and employ a large number of individual LEDs. Such types of displays have had commercial success and are widely employed in a variety of indoor and outdoor venues, generally to provide display information to multiple viewers and are visible from extended viewing distances. While capable of providing a large display using a large number of CRTs or LEDs, such an approach is costly to implement and frequently does not offer high resolution images. CRT based designs also have significant power consumption and excessive heat concerns.
A second general approach to providing large displays is to tile a plurality of smaller full video capable displays to generate a larger display. For example, a plurality of smaller complete displays can be arranged in an array with each display showing a portion of a larger image. A difficulty faced with this approach is that the original image needs to be decimated and separate full video rate portions of the image need to be created and sent to the different displays, generally in a proprietary format. This increases the cost and complexity of such approaches.
A difficulty exists in providing what might be considered intermediate size displays, for example, on the order of approximately 4 meters diagonal screen size. With current technology, such an intermediate size display is too large to be feasible to be made with a single full video capable display, such as a single CRT, LCD, or plasma-type display. The generally acceptable price point of such intermediate size displays also typically precludes the “Jumbotron” approach as such an implementation would not be economical. For example, the power consumption per display area of a CRT based Jumbotron type display is generally prohibitive for smaller intermediate installations.
Projection type displays are capable of providing such intermediate size images at reasonable cost. However in many implementations, a projection type implementation is disfavored due to the difficulties in providing and maintaining an unobstructed projection path between an image projector and an image projection screen. A further concern is that an intermediate size display occupies a relatively large area. Self-illuminating or emissive-type display implementations can exhibit excessive power consumption and energy usage cost concerns, particularly in applications where the display would be desirably utilized for extended periods of time.